Should marijuana be legalized in California? Marijuana has been illegal since the 1930’s, though medical marijuana was legalized in 1996. Therefore, if marijuana becomes legal on California there will be more access to it. Any adult over 21 years old will be able to purchase it. Although Proposition 19 predicts that California will benefit from earning money on taxed marijuana and will only allow distribution to adults, we should oppose Proposition 19 because it is not a clear plan and the outcome of what can happen to California is not clear as well.
One reason to oppose Proposition 19 is that the control of marijuana is not guaranteed. The United States has been dealing with illegal drug trafficking throughout the years. Supporters of Proposition 19 will say that if Proposition 19 passed that it would fight the drug cartels. According to Mc Namara, Gray, and Downing supporters who worked in the Los Angeles Police Department, say, “60 percent of drug cartel revenue comes from the illegal U.S. marijuana market. By controlling marijuana, Proposition 19 will help cut off funding to the cartels.”(5) By making marijuana legal cartels would have to pay their share of taxes to the state. Also, “Yes on 19”, says that Proposition 19 will, “Cut off funding to violent drug cartels across our border who currently generate 60 percent of their revenue from the illegal U.S. marijuana market.”(7) Like Mc Namara et al, “Yes on 19” believes that by legalizing marijuana in California the state will benefit from it.
On the other hand, people who oppose Proposition 19 would say the contrary. According to The Fresno Bee who opposes Proposition 19 say, “This proposition would not magically end marijuana trafficking our put drug cartels out of busi...
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... any backyard, in any town – and local governments would be powerless to stop them.”(11) Local governments would be powerless because marijuana would be legal and won’t be able to do much about it. The only thing to do would be to hope that the cops catch the thieves.
In conclusion, we should oppose Proposition 19 because none of the plans the government has proposed would seem to have clear outcome. Marijuana as well as other illegal drugs will always be around and making them legal will not make a difference. We need to think of how the legalization of marijuana would really help the state out. Proposition 19 requires a lot of more revising and studying. When the government comes up with a stable, specific, and clear proposal then we can debate on that. Finally, marijuana should not be legalized and California voters should have voted against Proposition 19.
The controversy of legalizing marijuana has been raging for quite a while in America. From some people pushing it for medical purposes to potheads just wanting to get high legally. Marijuana has been used for years as a popular drug for people who want to get a high. All this time it has been illegal and now it looks as if the drug may become legal. There has been heated debate by many sides giving there opinion in the issue. These people are not only left wing liberals either. Richard Brookhiser, a National Review Senior editor is openly supportive of medical marijuana yet extremely conservative in his writing for National Review (Brookhiser 27). He is for medical marijuana since he used it in his battle with testicular cancer. He says "I turned to [marijuana] when I got cancer because marijuana gives healthy people an appetite, and prevents people who are nauseated from throwing up. "(Brookhiser 27) Cancer patients are not the only benefactors from the appetite enhancer in marijuana, but so are any other nauseous people. Arizona and California have already passed a law allowing marijuana to be used as a medicinal drug. Fifty Six percent of the California voters voted for this law. "We've sent a message to Washington," says Dennis Peron. "They've had 25 years of this drug was, and they've only made things worse." (Simmons 111) The Arizona proposition garnished an even wider margin of separation between the fore's an against in a sixty five percent support tally. Ethan Nadelmann insists that " these propositions are not about legalization or decriminalization. They're about initiating some non radical, commonsense approaches to drug policy." General Barry McCaffery disagrees saying, "I...
The Cannabis Policy Reform Act of 2014 might not be on the ballot in this year’s election. The topic of legalizing Cannabis here in California has been around for over 20 years. After doing research on legalizing Cannabis I have found many reasons why California should legalize it, many of the reasons could benefit our economy. As well as the medical benefits it gives to many people suffering from cancer, AIDS and other illnesses. The pros and the cons both have compelling arguments but I believe that legalizing Cannabis would benefit California.
In conclusion Marijuana has positive effects on both society and the wellbeing of individuals and should be legalized. It would be a logical decision for the government to legalize Marijuana due to the fact that firstly the government can monitor and tax Marijuana thus helping the economy. Secondly Marijuana can be used as medical therapy; thirdly there would be less youth and adults in jails and prisons. Point in fact the government would be able to manage all facets about Marijuana as follows price, importation and exportation and diminishing any drug cartels/markets. Additionally youth would not be prosecuted with possession of cannabis and fear an undetermined future. Lastly the positives incidentally outweigh the negatives over this concerning topic and thus a monumental decisions to legalize Marijuana.
For over a century, marijuana has been illegal in the United States and in a lot of cases it remains prohibited because it has been prohibited for so long. Laws in California and Colorado are currently popular in the media because they are legalizing and taxing marijuana production and distribution. After adding sales and excise taxes to the sales price in these states, consumers are purchasing marijuana legally for a lower price than its black market price. Revenue gained from taxes in these states is being put towards such things as education and regulation of the substance. The responsible disbursing of marijuana tax is being exemplified in California and Colorado. Be that as it may, people continue to argue against legalizing and taxing marijuana for such reasons as its negative health effects, the ability of individuals to evade taxes on cannabis, and its legalization spreading to other states. Those opposed to changing marijuana laws stand firm in their beliefs that spending tax dollars on incarcerating and policing marijuana users and distributors is beneficial to society. In turn, the current state of affairs remains unchanged, funneling billions of untaxed dollars in to the black market each year. If marijuana were legalized, the black market would see no other outcome than losing that capital to its competitor, state governments and hopefully the federal government as well. The theory that collecting taxes on marijuana, otherwise purchased untaxed through the black market, boosts state economies more than spending tax revenues on policing it as an illegal substance is a difficult theory to disprove.
...ses. There is also a financial benefit of growing and selling pot, supports say it will help provide jobs, which in turn will help the economy. We need to look at the message we are sending out to young people. Supporters of marijuana will argue that, “It is the parents fault if kids have access to their pot or I don’t have children so this issues doesn’t apply to me”. My response, would be, “One day you will have children and how can you tell them not to use drugs when you voted for the legalization of marijuana for recreation use”.
Marijuana has been the center of debate for several years now. There are many opinions on the subject, some believe that marijuana will be a “save all” that can help with medical advances, is less harmful than alcohol along with the taxability, so they push extremely hard for it to be legal. Others believe it will cause the world to collapse starting with it being addicting and moving to the detrition of our mental health, and want to do all they can to keep it illegal. Even though some believe it is bad for your mental health and can be very addictive, marijuana should be legal because it has positive medicinal and recreational uses and is taxable and safer than alcohol.
Proposition 64 was recently passed in California making recreational marijuana use legal. California has been among the few states that have taken this step towards accepting marijuana so far. Recreational marijuana use was not commonly accepted and was looked down upon until doctors found medical benefits in marijuana and proved it was not as harmful as the majority thought previously. The battle between whether this drug is harmful or helpful is still relevant today. Over the years, the population’s support for the legalization of marijuana has increased. Although the court case Gonzales v. Raich shows lack of support for the advancement of marijuana on the federal level, other state cases such as California Proposition 215, which allows
...e legalization of marijuana in the United States would drastically reduce crime in our cities and form a more productive society through its positive uses. In accomplishing these goals we are bettering our nation and making society safer for future children in America.. The fact remains, though, that alcohol and tobacco, which are two "proven addictive" drugs, remain legal in our nation today, whereas marijuana, a proven "non-addictive drug", is statistically shown to have not caused a death from overdose since its existence to the present date. It appears as though the legislative decisions concerning marijuana law policy is unbalanced, but our nation will never conserve funds due to government spending, and our medical treatments will never totally be as effective without the unconditional legalization of the Cannabis Sativa plant, otherwise known as marijuana
Overturn it! I have chosen to research Proposition 64, legalization recreational marijuana that passed in early November 8, 2016 by the California voters. It’s a bad idea if you’re allowing an epidemic to grow and lose control with the young people. Legalizing marijuana under this new state law, allowing young twenty-one adults and licensing industry to establish standards products to plant, sell and purchase in January 1, 2018. Marijuana has been seen as a relatively harmless drug, though given the chance, it can be as harmful and deadly as alcohol or tobacco. The problems and violence cause by the use of drugs and the lack of efficient measures by the government to reduce the rise of the substances has affected both society and business.
The issue of legalizing marijuana has been around for decades and there are many people on either side of the issue. Millions of people support the legalization of marijuana and those people have reasons as to why they think marijuana should be legalized throughout the United States. People for the legalization of the drug argue it will boost the already weak economy and bring in large sums of money for the national and state governments. Another claim they have made is that it will help prevent the war on drugs in Mexico and the public concern for the war has given momentum to the cause of legalizing marijuana. On the other side of this situation, millions of people oppose legalizing marijuana because of the ill-effects it has on its users.
If marijuana was legalized it would be the same as tobacco or alcohol. It could create jobs like manufacturing, farming, and distribution places. Each marijuana franchise would create about 75 jobs. In Los Angeles alone there are an estimated of 800 shops the dispense marijuana. The United States every year spends about $7.7 billion to enforce the ban of marijuana. If the plant was legalized, it would save the government money and it would help them make money if they taxed it. By taxing marijuana, it would bring in another six billion dollars every year. Colorado made over a million dollars the first day it was legalized. "State officials expect up to $578,000,000 in first-year sales revenue, as well as $67 million in tax revenue, which will be used to build schools and fund regulatory efforts." -policymic there are estimates saying a range of ten billion dollars the whole way to 120 billion dollars a years from marijuana sales if it was nationally legalized. There are over 60,000 people in jail from marijuana offenses. That alone costs the ...
Recently, the California elections proposed a controversial new law for the state to apply a new tax on cannabis, Proposition 19. Many reasons arise to contest this new proposition. Firstly, we currently do not have a sufficient system in place to prevent the dispersion of cannabis to minors. Secondly, drivers already have enough to be concerned about, such as drunk drivers and people using cell-phones, therefore we should not add marijuana as an additional influence for people to have open access to. Moreover, once we compromise by sanctioning a recognized drug, what is stopping us from eventually legalizing far more serious drugs, like cocaine and heroin? Say no to legalizing marijuana, and keep our country safe.
Legalization of marijuana has been a hot yet controversial topic all around the world, and some European countries has legalized the personal or medical use of it, while in the USA, the war on legalizing marijuana has been long. Though the opposition is strong, the overwhelming victory has been gained as Colorado and Washington has fully legalized it. Now, over the half of the states have been considering the legalization of marijuana, although California Proposition 19 failed to gain fully support in 2009. I prefer the legalization of marijuana. Just like a coin has two sides, whether we should legalize marijuana is largely depends on the benefits it brings to our country. On the one hand, it is the public’s intention that the government should legalize marijuana. On the other hand, by now, marijuana is proved to be no more dangerous than smoking and alcohol, and it is the individual’s freedom to use it or not. It is also out of the respect to the basic human rights. Considering both the economic profits
In America, marijuana is the most used drug after alcohol and tobacco. Marijuana is used by millions of Americans, despite the harsh laws illegalizing the drug. Some states, such as Washington and Colorado have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Efforts to legalize the drug in other states have been unsuccessful such as Proposition 19 in California, which failed in 2010 despite uptight campaigns. Billions of dollars are spent at the state, local, and federal level to fight the use of marijuana. Millions are arrested for marijuana offenses and sentenced for extended periods. Marijuana has negative effects on the human health and high potential for addiction. Legalizing marijuana will eliminate the black market, which is responsible for the increase in violence, crime, and corruption. Resources used for mass incarceration in the war on drug can be redirected to rehabilitation to decrease drug abuse and addiction.
As you know, Marijuana is the most frequently used illegal drug in the U.S causing a huge controversy in today’s society. I think that in some ways not legalizing marijuana could hurt us and our country. I know that you, as a member of the CALM, feel very strongly on your opinion of legalizing marijuana. The CALM does make very convincing arguments about crime, youth, and health with the use of marijuana. While some of these arguments can be persuasive to many, I think that my following propositions on crime, health, and medicinal marijuana also provide a swaying argument.